the "news nation" is following big news right now. a new interview with governor romney where he appears to be stepping up his attacks on president obama after a bad three weeks going after president obama's policies both foreign and domestic. this this new interview just took place. the governor is minutes away from kicking off a so-called victory rally in the battleground state of colorado that's also the place where the first debate will take place next week. en route to that event, governor romney gaich an interview to nbc's peter alexander. romney pushed back against polling in a number of battleground states that show him trailing significantly. >> ir think this is an election about a choice between two different paths. this is a pcampaign about choic. as peek focus more and more on the path forward, i'm convinced they'll conclude that we can't afford four more years like the last four years. we're going to win.

there's no question in my mind. we're going to win. >> governor romney trying to hit the president's comments he made during his 60 minutes enter roux regards the middle east that aired last night. >> i was pretty certain and continue to be pretty certain that there are going to be bumps in the road because in a lot of these places the one organizing principle has been islam. the one part of society that hasn't been chromed completed by the government. >> the president characterized as bumps in the road the developments in the middle east. we've just had an ambassador assassinated. egypt has elected a muslim brotherhood person as president. i don't consider these bumps in the road. this is a time for american leadership. >> and it took no time. press secretary jay carney jumping into the fray just a short time ago in the daily briefing at the white house.

>> reporter: the complaint this mother about the line "bump in the road" is not that it minimizing the arab spring but minimizing the death of the u.s. ambassador and three others. when he said bump in the road, did he mean not to draw parallel or not to define that event in benghazi? >> i appreciate the question, ann, because that assertion is both desperate and offensive. >> let me bring in the political panel today. thank you all for your time. jonathan, let me start off with you. obviously, you're a conservative republican here. do you find this line of attack, the bump in the roads, that mitt romney is trying to get some traction on desperate and orchsive as carney described it? >> certainly not. this isn't the first time we've seen obama do this. last year he was talking about the economy, and he said, well,

americans have kind of gotten soft. this is something the president tries to do when there's bad things in his record that he tries to shove underneath the rug. really, really awful things happen in the middle east, terrible things happen at the libyan embassy and he's trying to minimize those. you can call him out on that. >> peter alexander pushed back on governor romney saying that the bump in the road or at least alluding to the fact it plays into the deaths of the americans and how the president processes. let me play this again. >> in your heart of hearts president obama wasn't deeply saddened about the loss of four american lives in libya, that he was speaking about policy in the region and not about the loss of lives? >> whether he was speaking about bumps in the road, he was talking about developments in the middle east and that includes the assassination and includes the muslim brother rood president of egypt. there are extraordinary events going on in the middle east, and

considering those events has bumps ntd road shows a person with a very different perspective about world affairs than the perspective i have. >> jonathan, you believe in the president's hearts he was referring to the deaths of the americans serving in the front lines as diplomats as a bump in the road? that's what he was saying, jonathan? >> to colony of that bumps in the road is very, very difficult for the president to do. i think mitt romney is absolutely appropriate to call him out on it. >> chris, let me get your response to that. >> well, i mean, listen, it's pretty desperate and not surprising. when you're the romney campaign and basically behind in every key battleground, when you're losing ground and a campaign torn apart not only within the campaign but by your right wing and republican supporters, you have a problem. you try to basically exploit whatever kind of moment you have. they think they have a moment here. i don't see it. and i don't think the voters see it. the bigger problem is again he

has no vision -- regardless of in terms of middle east or foreign policy, he has no vision to lead the country. that is the fundamental problem with the romney campaign. they can aattack all them. they can misrepresent all them. until they figure that puzzle out, he's cooked. >> friday we intended the day with a segment regarding following the news cycle. our first team had analysis it appeared that the romney campaign, after three brutal weeks, was looking for anything. they came out with a tape that they said was the president for 14 years ago with some kind of skewed view over to spread the wealth. they try to link it to class r warfa warfare. it seems that the romney team is looking for any opening in verbiage used by the president to get traction and perhaps to chris's point not getting traction with specifics on foreign policy and certainly domestic issues, specifically the budget. >> sure. i think it's no surprise that at this juncture in the campaign

with the polls being what they are that the romney campaign is looking for any opening with the president. there is a distinction to be drawn between they're doing so on foreign policy and domestically. certainly in both cases democrats have pointed out that the comments were taken somewhat either out of context or exaggerated. but i don't think that the campaign is out of bounds by any means for trying to find an opening and trying to find a way to go after the president. >> not out of bounds and trying to find the opening. we saw the incredible firestorm that started after the campaign released the statement on libya before the facts were known, even conservatives turned on the romney campaign. just on the way to his latest event in colorado, let me play what governor romney said on his plane regarding no more fund-raising. that the fund-raising season is over, and that maybe it's time to change the strategy. let me play that. >> i think the fund-raising

season is probably a little quieter going forward. we've been very heavy raising money. i'd rather be spending my time out in the key swing states campaigning door to door if necessary, but in rallies and various meetings. but fund-raising is a part of politics. >> okay, ann. we know where that advice came from, lindsey graham. he was one republicans who blasted mitt romney saying the focus was too much on raising money and not going door to door. this is on the heels of the conserve if i have party blasting him, some of them regarding the decision to come out with that statement on libya. my larger request is, if you appear desperate and grasping at any straw, that doesn't make you a strong man but a straw man, ann. >> look, i think we have to keep a close eye on the romney calendar and see if he dials back on the fund-raising or not. they're going to do some things in the past and sometimes 24e have and haven't.

if you listen to his words, it might get quieter on the fund-raising front. given what we've seen in the financial reports recently, we understand why he's campaigning so much, and especially whether it comes to maul donors. he's not as flush as we thought he was. they've had tough choices about how to deploy the candidate and to date they've chosen to emphasize fund-raising and now we hear they'll do more campaigning. >> it's interesting, jonathan, another jonathan i adore here he wrote a column on the "60 minutes" interview he did as well as the president. he says overconfidence is a big problem for those supporting president obama. so much so that anita dunn says it was one of her three concerns. after the month mitt romney has had, obama supporters should be forgiven by becoming overcome with confidence, but he goes on to say, snap out it. he feels that mitt romney's interview was concise and he

believes anyway that mitt romney may be trying to get some traction and perhaps is getting his footing, albeit past the middle point of the game here, jonathan. >> i would a overconfident and overpolitical. remember, after the day after we had the assassination in libya, later that evening the president went to a campaign event in nevada. they're focused on politics, instead of meeting with netanyahu, they did an appearance with david letterman. they're focused 100% on the election and a little less on governing than they need to be. >> does that mean governor romney was focused only on fund-raising, i think fund-raising season is probably a little quieter. i'd rather be spending my time in key swing states campaigning door to door. iowa, he did not spend very much time. i believe only seven visits if not less, and he's behind in the polling there. if you say the obama campaign has been campaigning, then you would i imagine have to agree

your candidate was focused on fund-raising and not going door to door and he's behind in key battleground states, jonathan. >> mitt romney is running for president. barack obama is also the commander in chief. >> he's not running for fund-raiser, either? is he running for fund raise ner chief? >> i think obama has been to more fund-raisers than any president in recent history. i think the fair points here by governor romney, and i think that the obama administration has been very, very focused on the election and a little less focused on governing. >> real quick, chris, we're going to talk about this on the other half about bobby goshen from "time" magazine. i have to pick up what jonathan has been saying. a lot of republicans have been on the air that the president has time to go to david letterman but doesn't have time to meet with national leaders, chris. this is what we're hearing all day long today. >> again, it's a strange attacks that i don't understand. do they believe that the president of the united states doesn't talk it to world leaders all the time?

i understand their fix yation o making an indirect attack. the average voter sitting at home and watching president obama does not sit there and think, he's sitting out there wasting his time not talking it to people. >> they see he's in new york and not meeting and you've got this headline, for example, in first read that says it's obama's do no harm week. they do see that. >> i think they do, but at the end of the day when you're the president and commander in chief and done what he's accomplished on that front, i think you've got an enormous amount of latitude. nobody will second-guess his abl ability to reach out and influence world leaders. i don't think that's an incredible line of attack. this is the part where the romney campaign is really struggling. these flailing attacks you see where they're trying to find something that will stick. that is not a strategy to win. that is a strategy to lose. >> ann, your last thought here,

university of cincinnati poll, president obama 51% and mitt romney 46%. we knew this on friday he was behind, but just another poll indicating how important ohio is and how he's down there. >> yeah, absolutely. that's why we're going to see him showing up in ohio tomorrow and doing the bus tour he's doing. no republican can get to the presidency, hasn't in recent memory without winning ohio. it's important to try and close the gap somehow. >> somehow. perhaps he will. thank you very much, anne and jonathan and chris. any minute, president obama is about to land in new york city as mentioned. ahead of his speech tomorrow before the u.n. general assembly. republicans are asking why the president is not planning a single meelting with a world leader. is it part of a do no harm strategy? joel ruben will answer the question, and "time" magazine's bobby goesh will join me live on

the ahmadinejad comments today. another state and another voter i.d. law in federal court today. we'll give you an update on the sad trend. join the conversation on twitter @tamronhall a and @newsnation. mom always got good nutrition to taste great. she was a picky eater. well, now i'm her dietitian, and last year, she wasn't eating so well. so i recommended boost complete nutritional drink to help her get the nutrition she was missing. and now she drinks it every day. well, it tastes great! [ male announcer ] boost has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones, and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. all with a delicious taste. [ dietitian ] now, nothing keeps mom from doing what she loves -- being my mom. [ male announcer ] stay strong, stay active with boost. like a squirrel stashes nuts, you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® liquid gels. nothing starts working faster than zyrtec®

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developing news right now. president obama about to arrive at kennedy airport in new york. he, of course, is coming to the annual opening session of the united nations general assembly. that, of course, is happening tomorrow already. iran's president mahmoud ahmadinejad has disregarded a u.n. warning to avoid incendiary rhetoric and declaring israel will be, quote, eliminated. the special envoy is warning the

civil war in syria threatening to spill across the middle east as well. two developments to be discussed. the president will not hold any face-to-face meetings with world leaders because of what the white house says is his tight schedule. that is drawing criticism from republicans. in his speech the president will have an opportunity to distinguish his world vision from governor romney's. it follows their appearances we've talked so much about since "60 minutes" where president obama defended his record and mitt romney took aim. >> let's see what i've done since i came in office. i said i would end the war in iraq. i did. i said we'll go after al qaeda. they've been decimated. bin laden is gone. if governor romney is suggesting to start another war, he should say so. >> we also have to communicate that israel is our ally. our close ally. the president's decision not to meet with bibi netanyahu, prime minister of israel, when the prime minister is here for the

united nations session, is a mistake and sends a message throughout the middle east that we somehow distance ourtselves from our friends. >> joining us right now is johnny goeshen and joel ruben. thank you for your time. you heard mitt romney speaking the talking point of the day and perhaps now in the next 24 hours, especially given these new comments from ahmadinejad that are no surprise and no different than what he said in the past. >> they're really no surprise, and they were disgusting and they should be condemned and they are being condemned. tomorrow when the president goes and speaks before the general assembly, he's going to really set the stage, as he said and as he has for the past four years about america's role in the world, its leadership in advancing peace and security. the successes we've had galvanizing international support to go after iran's nuclear program. this is a key achievement. the united states is back after four years now. we see serious international

efforts supporting an agenda that does deal with emerging threats. four years ago it's easy to forget. we were mired is iraq and aimless in afghanistan. in iran we had no policy. today that's changed for the better. >> joel, last year there was a sense of optimism as we were talking about the arab spring, and today whether it's categorized as a bump in the proceeded and we know that democracy did not happen overnight, it didn't happen for this country overnight, but with all of that said, the reality is from year to year there are many questions, even including what really happened in libya when those four americans were killed. >> it is a very difficult time, and it is very different. the feeling is from a year ago, and i'm sure that the president will speak to that. he'll talk about not getting ahead of dangers and potential

threats. there's issues in these countries. there's concerns about food security, water security and the development and the growing rule of law. it needs to be addressed. it's through the collective international action where we see the most gains. what this administration has done effectively is galvanize international work. while the results are not complete and they shouldn't be expected to be complete so quickly, the process is under way where we see this administration leaning into with the international community. >> bobby, as we talked about, the next 40-plus days, 42, 43 days now, the reality of any speech for the president is that it will be fuel for the fire that republicans and mitt romney hope that they are burning, including this notion of not meeting with world leaders. you had interesting insight on whatever the president did here would be seen as a negative force by republicans. >> he's dammed if he does or doesn't in the eyes of his republican.

if he met benjamin netanyahu, the criticism is why not x, y and z. if he met world and then it's why is he wasting time and not worrying about jobs and the economy. he has to figure out what sort of message to send to the world and what he's sending to the american public. that is that he's a figure in the world stage in which mitt romney is not. he havsn't had an opportunity t be. the president has now international experience, a certain amount of international credibility and stature, and he hopes people will get the message. >> what are the stakes or how are they dirfferent this time around, tumuluous times and protests on the anti-islamic film alone as of late. >> this is now a new reality in the middle east. we're going to see these outbreaks of anger and violence

taking place for several years now while you have new democracies. they take time to find their feet, but that's not something easy to communicate with the american people. to say this happens is not going to be enough. if he's thinking with his presidential campaigner's hat on, he wants to say or do something that reassures the american public that we're in control, or he's in control of the situation. that's not easy to do, because in reality he's not. >> with iran and israel, how complicated is that in a political season, you know, a short time away people will be voting and it appears at least by some of the naltanalysis bib netanyahu is knowing both their feet are to the fire, and one them or their supporters attempt to use this opening with israel. >> he's in the strongest position, bibi netanyahu. he doesn't have a serious

challenger to his authority in israel. ahmadinejad -- president obama has an economic crisis in his hand. you have a situation where you have three players and only one player is in the strong position. it is, again, something that the opposition is going to use against president obama over and over again. as long as mr. romney is not asked what he would do instead. he's never really communicated what he would do instead. he's in the happy position where he can criticize without being challenged on what he's doing. >> he said similar actions and similar decisions to the president, which has been noted by many people. he hasn't said anything different than what the current administration is saying here. >> that's right. governor romney has, in fact, endorsed what the obama administration's policy is on iran in terms of building international pressure on the regime to come clean about its nuclear program. i want to push back on the idea

that president obama has not been good to israel. the united states has spent more than $10 billion in military assistance over the past three-plus years towards supporting israel's defense. the president's continually meeting with bibi netanyahu, the prime minister. the officials are back and forth consistently. the president spoke with netanyahu only a week or so ago for over an hour on the phone. it's important to make sure the record is straight. this administration has been and continues to be strong in supporting israel. >> thank you very much. we'll see you tomorrow on the big day. thank you. coming up, politicians are always trying it to ride the coattails of great names in their parties. remember, of course, this moment from a debate which we'll talk about more. 1988 was the year. >> jack kennedy was a friend of mine. senator, you're no jack kennedy. >> big debate moment, but, you know, of course, some republicans are trying to paint mitt romney as ronald reagan. i'll talk with a wrilter who says romney is no regan and the

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mitt romney and paul ryan blitzing through the buckeye state as if the 2012 campaign depended on it, and it does. we'll get the latest on the ground on their ohio bus tour and what's at stake in the latest polling in that state. first, closing arguments under way in south carolina for a three-judge panel to decide if that state's voter i.d. law will keep minorities from the polls on election day. now, the law requires voters to show photo i.d. the at the polls. supporters of the law say they're trying to combat voter

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and how happy are they jimmy? happier than eddie money running a travel agency. get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. news. governor romney the on the trail and sounds pretty confident about his prospects in brand new interview that we got ahold with peter alexander. take a listen. >> i'm very pleased with the fact that we have a campaign that is taking our message to the people across america. look, we're going to win. there's no question in my mind. we're going to win. >> romney's confidence boost comes as his campaign is within the next hour kicking off that new three-day bus tour through ohio. despite the fact that polls show that he's down five points in that the state. he's certainly ready to fight for it. not just on the ground. take a look at some of the ads from both sides hitting the a airwav airwaves. >> the last four years we've been told things will get

better. >> reassured by the countless slogans. >> yes, we can. >> change we can believe in. >> now, no, i can't. >> the most important lessons i've learned is you can't change washington from the inside. >> what? no, i can't. >> no i can't? >> my job is not to worry about those people. >> doesn't the president have to worry about everyone? mitt romney paid 14.1% in taxes last year. he keeps millions in bermuda and the cayman islands. he won't release his tax returns before 2010. maybe before attacking others on taxes, romney should come clean on his. >> let's bring in henry gomez. there we have two statements out, the 47% and you can't change washington. both the big headlines from last week, and they made theirs way to big ads in your states. talk to me about the effectiveness of both or either.

>> well, you just showed what's aa typical commercial break for ohioans here, seeing an ad from one side and then an ad from the other. we really have been inundated with the political ads, and it's hard to say what effect they have. the polls show a small percentage of the electorate is undecided at this point. what these commercials are doing is reinforce the opinions of people and loyalists on both sides of the aisle. it's why you see mitt romney launching a bus tour in ohio that starts tomorrow. he's ready to go back out on offense after a couple weeks of sidelining his economic message because of some missteps of his own making. >> it's no surprise that voters in your state, battleground state would be inundated. i don't think that's a big reveal. we would logically see that in any tight race. the group of people that both of these ads if they are available to your point because they certainly would motivate the base, but the group of people that these ads are directed at are perhaps white middle class

voters who haven't made their mind up. how many exist in your state or even in this country at this point has been around 5% at least nationally. nevertheless these ads go after a certain kind of voter. >> absolutely. they live in places like ohio, which in the southeast portion of the state and st. clairsville and belmont county, ohio where there are a lot of coal and manufacturing jobs. both campaigns have released ads targeted specifically to this region in the state. it's traditionally democratic. it voted for obama barely in 2008. the republicans see an opportunity to peel away the margins and perhaps put that part of the state into the red column. if they're successful in doing that, it pares down the 4% margin that obama won by four years ago in ohio. that's why we see ads like that, and whether they're effective or not, we have to wait and see. >> thank you very much. greatly appreciate it, henry. it's the next major highlight in

the presidential race. the first debate between president obama and mitt romney nine days away in colorado. we have a preview some are saying of the first debate via the "60 minutes" interview. first of all, taxes. >> the current rates less 20%. so the top rate would go from 35 to 28, middle rates by 20% as well. all the rates come down. >> the problem governor romney has is he seems to only have one note. tax cuts for the wealthy, and rolling back regulations as a recipe for success. >> what about the issue of the deficit? >> i'm going to look at every federal program and ask this question. is this program so critical it's worth borrowing money from china to pay for it? we can't afford to spend more money than we take in.

>> i inherited the biggest deficit in our history, and in the last four years the deficit has gone up but 90% of that is as a consequence of two wars that weren't paid for. as a consequence of tax cuts that weren't paid for. a prescription drug plan that was not paid for, and then the worst economic crisis since the great depression. >> joining me now is mark murray. people online respond to the fact you put the sound bites back to back, and it gives us a feel of what that first debate might feel like. >> it does, tamron. you look at president obama and mitt romney, and both candidates have actually acknowledged they're fundamentally in disagreement on a whole host of issues. you look back to the 2008 president contest, and barack obama and john mccain agreed on several issues when it came to immigration, ending torture, actually climate change. you look at obama and mitt romney and they disagree so much

on taxes, on deficit and the role of government and foreign policy that flared up today. that makes that first debate come october 3rd and the following debates must watch tv. >> let me play another clip regarding what the campaigns are lacking. let me play both responses. >> freedom. i want to restore the kind of freedom that has always driven america's economy and that allowed us to be the shining city on the hill. >> there's no bigger purpose right now than making sure if people work hard in the country, they can get ahead. that's the central american idea. >> that speaks to the government with the 47% and speaks to regulations. you have industries banking in particular who many would love to have no regulations, and we see certainly that did not help us at one point in this country. that's interesting as well, mark. >> well, right. it does show their economic philosophies. when mitt romney is talking about freedom, what he usually

means is lower tax rates, less regulation, let the economy and businesses be able to prosper. when president obama is actually talking about having society work together, giving everyone a fair shot, a fair take, that is kind of a system where it's not just government, it's not just business and unshackling business but society coming together with a role of government. both of those things are their two different economic philosophies, and that's played off the first debate. >> thank you very much. great pleasure having you on. over the course of the campaign we heard a lot of comparison from the right between the two nominees and past presidents, particularly republicans have tried to link president obama and jimmy carter, while governor romney has compared himself or wanted to be seen as the next ronltd reagan. lou cannon calls both claims a stretch. he told politico, it's hard to make a carter out of president

obama and even harder to make a reagan out of romney. he has a lot more to do at this point to win than reagan had to do. thank you for joining me, pete. >> good to see you, tamron. >> your head lines was republicans to machine romney, you're no ronald reagan. you go through the differences. we'll start off with president obama and jimmy carter. president obama has a 50% approval, carter 37%. he's deemed strong on foreign policy. we know the score with jimmy carter at that time. you say the president not solely to blame for this economy, but voters blamed jimmy carter. bad economic hurt the popularity of carter. you say the base is staying with him. the southern democrats soured out on carter in your piece. this breaks it down pretty solidly. >> yeah, tamron. 2012 is not 1980. mitt romney is not ronald

reagan. what was striking is how many republicans were willing to say on the record that the comparison just doesn't cut the mustard. those things you just mentioned. the economy is so much weaker, very different electorate. ronald reagan didn't have a tough primary battle the way that mitt romney did. but the biggest difference between these two elections is that the country was so different then. the south was still considered democratic. it was only beginning to trend republican. so the week before the election, you had ronald reagan c campaigning in new york city trying to win new york. jimmy carter was campaigning in texas, unimaginable today. it was a very different map, and that's one of the reasons that it's so hard for romney to win this election. what's amazing is we've seen republicans make this ronald reagan comparison before. about four years ago when john mccain fell in the polls, his people also trying to draw that comparison.

>> to your point, let me put up the screen on the romney/reagan comparison. romney's background is different from reagan at the time. upper middle class and lower middle class background. you pointed out tough gop primary for romney, and favorite was the case for reagan. convention boost for reagan, and favorability underwater. a conservative said he's the least popular presidential candidate in history, and reagan had a favorability increase by the summer. to the larger point, we are different. why do you believe that every four years you have some republicans who try to drag up the -- this is the net ronald reagan, and attempt to, i guess, perhaps for obvious reasons try to link the democratic canada or nominee to jimmy carter? >> they want to win. it's to spin us they're still competitive and viable. i think everyone thinks of ronald reagan and the republican party now at this saintly figure. the point that a lot of the

romney loyalists and people close to the campaign tell me is romney wasn't -- ronald reagan wasn't the reagan we think of now 32 years ago. he was kind of viewed in harshly negative terms. the carter white house wanted to take on reagan because they thought he would be more beatable than some of his primary opponents. one of the reasons you see romney people make the comparison is they believe mitt romney is like ronald reagan. one of the republicans i talked to, when you stand a long way back, you look at it like an impressionist painting and it makes sense. the closer you get to the painting, it doesn't quite hold up. >> great article you wrote on politico. >> thanks, tamron. there's a lot going on today. here's some things we thought you should know. former gop presidential candidate newt gingrich attended a fund-raiser in missouri today for senate candidate akin.

they're now advising the akin campaign. tomorrow is the final day to drop out way court order, but he says he has no intentions of doing to. florida senator rubio tweeted his comments about american airlines. after his flight was delayed. he said every american flight this week has been two hours late or canceled. this one is already one hour delayed. rubio tweeted he hopes his tirade did not cost him american platinum status. american airlines replied, thanks for your patience, march crow. thousands of oers were delayed last week. we reported on the labor issues. some big names from music and screen joined together for a new love voting musical for the group l-o-v-e. let one voice emerge. take a look. ♪

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more entertaining. year after year. it's the reason why we don't have customers. we have members. american express. welcome in. you may have heard nbc news has kicked off the third annual education nation sum knit in new york. this year they're focuses on solution highlights schools and programs maybe measurable improvements based on focused action. one such success has been the advance placement program at the national math and science initiative. the program has been showing nearly double qualifying ap test scores in math and science is it just one year. joining us today is the chairman. national math and science initiative, tom lusum. thank you so much for your time. >> thank you. >> the headline is students in

national math and science initiative schools have outperformed their peers again 2011 and 2012. what is the recipe or secret to success there, as we are so focused on solutions? >> well, it's focused on several things. one is opportunity, and that is we need every child to have the opportunity to take an advanced placement math and science course. the second is top quality professional development for our teachers, which is the key really to success. education always comes down to the teacher in the classroom, and we do a really good job of providing materials for teachers to improve. i'd say the third aspect is open enrollment. we want to encourage every student to shoot for a higher bar s bar, and the highest bar is the advanced placement exam. that's why we focused on that. >> just some of the numbers to discuss here. african-american students more than tripled the number of

qualifying scores aachieved on math, science and english. hispanic students saw double the number. female students double the number of qualifying scores achieved on math, science and english. you've seen success in groups of students that even in the recent numbers have not been as impressive or inspiring as they should, quite honestly, tom. >> well, you know, we have more than 100% increase in our first year in every school and cumulatively over a four-year progress time frame, we have 160% increase. this is working for all kinds of students. minority students, female students, angulo students and te key is better opportunity and better teachers. >> thank you very much. whenever you say opportunity and better teachers, ears certainly should perk up. tomorrow, philadelphia eagles star nnambi is back with us for a second year.

he's doing far more than working on the field with the eagles and we'll talk with him. logon to educationnation.com. we'll be back with our gut check, and it involves a movie that set off a little bit of a protest yesterday. if we want to improve our schools... ...what should we invest in? maybe new buildings? what about updated equipment? they can help, but recent research shows... ...nothing transforms schools like investing in advanced teacher education. let's build a strong foundation. let's invest in our teachers so they can inspire our students. let's solve this. something this delicious could only come from nature. now from the maker of splenda sweeteners, discover nectresse. the only 100% natural, no-calorie sweetener made from the goodness of fruit.

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time for the "news nation" gut check. a new movie about america's education system stirring up controversy as what often happens with education. it's called "don't back down." it's two moms who embark on a mission to turn around their children's inner city school. >> we have to find a teacher who has the same ideas you do. >> we're going to try something new. we're going to work a little harder, me included. >> you want to take over the school with me? you think it's dumb. >> i think it's a knockout. >> some teachers already openly

criticizing the film. randy wine garden said this move recould have been a great opportunity to bring parents and teachers together it to launch a national movement focused on real teacher and parent collaboration to help all children. instead this fictional portrayal, which makes the unions the culprit for all problems is divisive and demoralizes millions of great teacher. daniel barnes who directed the film rejected that claim today on "morning joe." >> this is a very decisive debate and knew i was touching a hot button issue. i felt fundamentally this is a movie about people coming together. >> so what does your gut tell you? you've seen the trailers, but that doesn't stop you from giving us your thoughts. is the movie "don't back down" decisive. look what the "news nation" says about friday's gut check. was ann romney right to speak out against critics in the republican party.

30% said yes and 70% said no. that does it for this edition of "news nation." tomorrow on news yash i'll talk with "time" magazine's jim frederick about the u.n. and president obama's big speech. continuing our week on education nation. nnambi asomugha in the house. we're going to talk with him live. "the cycle" is up next. so, i'm happy. sales go up... i'm happy. it went out today... i'm happy. what if she's not home? (together) she won't be happy. use ups! she can get a text alert, reroute... even reschedule her package. it's ups my choice. are you happy? i'm happy. i'm happy. i'm happy. i'm happy. i'm happy. happy. happy. happy. happy. (together) happy. i love logistics. one is for a clean, wedomestic energy future that puts us in control. our abundant natural gas is already saving us money,

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